Rail Freight Flows and News UK

[stantheman]

Or the Coatbridge to Felixstowe but oddly there is a northbound overnight 4S88?

 

[Malaxa]

What happened to the short-lived Tilbury to Coatbridge refrigerated service?

...it reverted to 17,000 road haulage movements a year [allegedly]

The new service operates twice a day, seven days a week, and was launched in December [2021]. DRS’s Class 88 bi-mode locomotives are used on the 415-mile run. The companies say the service will take at least 17,000 containers off the road each year. Tesco has used rail to transport goods since 2008 and says rail freight is key to meeting its commitment to net zero emissions in its own operations by 2035.

https://www.modernrailways.com/article/first-refrigerated-goods-service-tesco
So much for net zero "commitment".
Actually it was to and from Tilbury2 on the old power station site.

 

[158756]

...it reverted to 17,000 road haulage movements a year [allegedly]

https://www.modernrailways.com/article/first-refrigerated-goods-service-tesco
So much for net zero "commitment".
Actually it was to and from Tilbury2 on the old power station site.

If it really did run 7 days a week (how many freight trains actually do?) that works out to about 23 containers on each train (in both directions). Doesn't sound completely crazy but did it actually achieve those loadings? But if the train disappears those containers are not necessarily all going by road - they could be redirected to another train with spare capacity, or to a Scottish port.

 

[Class15]

If it really did run 7 days a week (how many freight trains actually do?) that works out to about 23 containers on each train (in both directions). Doesn't sound completely crazy but did it actually achieve those loadings? But if the train disappears those containers are not necessarily all going by road - they could be redirected to another train with spare capacity, or to a Scottish port.

It ran Monday - Saturday and was usually well loaded.

 

[androdas]

Piece in the Northumberland Gazette that the former Butterwell coal disposal point just off the ECML north of Morpeth has been given permission to be converted into an aggregates terminal accepting 3 trains per week of primary aggregate from Scotland and the East Midlands.

Gazette Article: https://www.northumberlandgazette.c...ling-site-in-very-rural-area-approved-4173419

The Gazette (as usual) takes the line of industry in an inappropriate place, despite it being a brownfield former coal processing plant on a much bigger scale of what is proposed here, the also get the detail wrong and the aggregate will be coming in by rail and exported via road, they have it the other way round .

Planning portal link if you are one for detail, the planning statement specifies the plans for rail / road. https://publicaccess.northumberland....do?caseType=Application&keyVal=RGCSJAQSIRH00

Good to see this sort of development of disused industrial sidings in my opinion and something that should be encouraged for the many rusting away in undergrowth around the network.

 

[JKF]

There’s been route learners on the Portbury branch all this week, this usually heralds a new flow starting. Could it be future Class 93 deliveries?

Last week was the first time the Friday path for the ‘plonkliner’ containerised wine service was used on the branch, originating from London Gateway. The return service ran back on Saturday morning. This was in addition to the usual Saturday inbound service running (returning Monday). It’s been a while since there’s been two freight services on the branch on the same day. The service seems quite regular at the moment after a few months where it barely ran. Two weeks ago (24/6/23) saw the Saturday service unusually double headed (66594 & 66542), and a few weeks earlier a class 70 (70001) made a rare appearance.

 

[Oxfordblues]

I notice Colas are running two trains TThO Burngullow to Longport this week, with separate portions joining at Exeter Riverside. Traditionally china clay has been conveyed on this route, but to the terminal at Cliff Vale. Could this be a by-product of china clay extraction for use as aggregate?

 

[Freightmaster]

I notice Colas are running two trains TThO Burngullow to Longport this week, with separate portions joining at Exeter Riverside. Traditionally china clay has been conveyed on this route, but to the terminal at Cliff Vale. Could this be a by-product of china clay extraction for use as aggregate?

Spot on! It's known as 'clay sand'.





MARK

 

[samrammstein]

I noticed that 6C55 1550 Aberystwyth Krono Colas to Chirk Kronospan Colas Rail is running today, and it looks like the same service ran last Friday on an STP schedule too.

Operated by 97303+37403+56096 today according to Railcam Data. I assume the 56 took over at Shrewsbury? Though I can't see any light engine move for the 97/37 thereafter. Any information appreciated as I am sure I'll catch this running round at Chester soon.

 

[Freightmaster]

I noticed that 6C55 1550 Aberystwyth Krono Colas to Chirk Kronospan Colas Rail is running today, and it looks like the same service ran last Friday on an STP schedule too.

Operated by 97303+37403+56096 today according to Railcam Data. I assume the 56 took over at Shrewsbury?

Correct - it uses the loco/wagons off the Baglan Bay to Chirk timber train.



MARK

 

[Spaceship323]

I noticed that 6C55 1550 Aberystwyth Krono Colas to Chirk Kronospan Colas Rail is running today, and it looks like the same service ran last Friday on an STP schedule too.

Operated by 97303+37403+56096 today according to Railcam Data. I assume the 56 took over at Shrewsbury? Though I can't see any light engine move for the 97/37 thereafter. Any information appreciated as I am sure I'll catch this running round at Chester soon.

It was 37405, 37403 is preserved at Bo'ness

 

[D6130]

There was an STP Colas-operated (with 70 817) 10 12 Ravenstruther to Longport stone train yesterday, which I videoed depating from Preston just after 17 00. Is this now a regular flow? Presumably it's carrying granite ballast from Cloburn Quarry to a virtual quarry at Longport?

 

[Freightmaster]

There was an STP Colas-operated (with 70 817) 10 12 Ravenstruther to Longport stone train yesterday, which I videoed depating from Preston just after 17 00. Is this now a regular flow?

Yes - it's been running for several months - Colas also operate a similar flow from Ravenstruther to Carlisle too.




MARK

 

[D6130]

Yes - it's been running for several months - Colas also operate a similar flow from Ravenstruther to Carlisle too.

OK, Thanks. I hadn't been on the Northern WCML for a few months. Another sad example of diesel freight haulage under the wires.

 

[Freightmaster]

OK, Thanks. I hadn't been on the Northern WCML for a few months. Another sad example of diesel freight haulage under the wires.

Unlike other FOCs such as DRS, Colas don't have any electric or bi-mode locos.



MARK

 

[172007]

It was 37405, 37403 is preserved at Bo'ness

36403 is at Vintage trains Tyseley om loan.

 

[Spaceship323]

36403 is at Vintage trains Tyseley om loan.

0k thanks, I' ve seen a picture of it on a railtour last week

 

[geordieblue]

Timber train to Hellifield from Chirk today - seem to remember this has run infrequently in the past, not sure if the start of a more regular flow or just a one off.

 

[Snow1964]

Just seen there is 7F51 from Whatley Quarry to Stoke Gifford this week, which appears to be pathed as a 60mph train.

Has there been a change and class 7 trains now run at upto 60mph?

Realtime Trains | 6F51 1930 Whatley Quarry F Liner Hh to Stoke Gifford (Fhh) | 24/07/2023

Real-time train running information for 6F51 1930 departure from Whatley Quarry F Liner Hh to Stoke Gifford (Fhh) on 24/07/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[Chingy]

That’ll have fun getting up Filton bank if it’s the usual 2 portions, circa 4000t!

Normally runs to Westbury Cement but I think infrastructure issues and capacity are causing problems there currently.

 

[Freightmaster]

Just seen there is 7F51 from Whatley Quarry to Stoke Gifford this week, which appears to be pathed as a 60mph train.

Has there been a change and class 7 trains now run at upto 60mph?

No - the train actually ran as 6F51 in the end:

Realtime Trains | 6F51 1930 Whatley Quarry F Liner Hh to Stoke Gifford (Fhh) | 24/07/2023

Real-time train running information for 6F51 1930 departure from Whatley Quarry F Liner Hh to Stoke Gifford (Fhh) on 24/07/2023. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

MARK

 

[Class15]

Does anyone know what became of the Tilbury to Coatbridge trains?

 

[Peter0124]

Or the Doncaster Iport to Elderslie GBRf intermodal train? Haven't seen one in about a year and still don't know why it ended suddenly.

 

[Freightmaster]

Or the Doncaster Iport to Elderslie GBRf intermodal train? Haven't seen one in about a year and still don't know why it ended suddenly.

A lot of intermodal flows operate on very tight margins so if they don't load consistently well,
they don't make any money and the traffic eventually gets lost to road I'm afraid...




MARK

 

[Oxfordblues]

It's ironic to say the least that, while much of Europe suffers this summer from the dreadful effects of climate change, the electrically-hauled Tilbury-Coatbridge intermodal has been replaced by 17,000 polluting diesel trucks per year because it's "cheaper"!

 

[Alarmkid23]

What the Heck is this freight train doing on RTT?! 6L96 (0904 Didcot to Dereham UKF). Dereham Station is a Heritage railway (Mid Norfolk Railway. So where does the UKF come from? when the railway is closed 99% of the time 2 security gates after Green Road (AOCL) are shut and locked! so whats with this train going to Dereham UKF? can anyone give me more infomation as its a oddity that a train would be routed on to a heritage railway thats not a RHTT Movment.

 

[The exile]

Stock to /from storage?

 

[jfowkes]

What the Heck is this freight train doing on RTT?! 6L96 (0904 Didcot to Dereham UKF). Dereham Station is a Heritage railway (Mid Norfolk Railway. So where does the UKF come from? when the railway is closed 99% of the time 2 security gates after Green Road (AOCL) are shut and locked! so whats with this train going to Dereham UKF? can anyone give me more infomation as its a oddity that a train would be routed on to a heritage railway thats not a RHTT Movment.

Class 745s were stored on the MNR quite recently, DRS and Network Rail have also used it for storage, maintenance and training. And military freight movements too, it seems it gets quite a lot of use. The wikipedia article has some information (it's wikipedia, so may be incorrect/incomplete, caveat emptor etc.)

 

[Oxfordblues]

The Didcot-Dereham path is a leftover from when DB-Schenker had the UK Defence contract. Any such movements are now like to originate at Bicester or Marchwood and be operated by GBRf. But I agree that there should be a tidying-up exercise to delete trains that never actually run.

 

[Adrian Barr]

So where does the UKF come from?

The UKF in "Dereham UKF" dates back to Speedlink days when there was a UKF fertiliser depot at Dereham, and the line from Wymondham to North Elmham was a freight-only branch. There's a picture from 1989 showing the last freight from North Elmham conveying grain polybulks - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_clarke_railway_photos/6280681486/in/pool-2746176@N20/

There's a nice picture on the Railscot website showing a class 31 shunting at the Dereham UKF depot in 1983, with the UKF logo visible on the distinctive "palvan" wagons and the fertiliser depot itself - https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/21/496/

Military traffic has been to Dereham as recently as 2020, with some photos on flickr taken at Wymondham of a train from Ludgershall (clicking the right arrow brings up some more photos showing the wagons and military vehicles loaded onto them) - https://www.flickr.com/photos/kl47576/49616739193/in/photostream/

On TRUST a train to Dereham would show the destination as simply Dereham rather than Dereham UKF. Realtime Trains uses the full location names rather than the 9 character "Stanox names" that appear when using TRUST itself (e.g. Birmingham New Street instead of BHAMNEWST) so occasionally some location names for freight locations look a bit odd or out of date. The full location name should really be "Dereham Mid-Norfolk Railway" or similar.

A photo of a signalling workstation on the Network Rail website shows a typical TRUST screen to compare it with RTT - https://www.networkrail.co.uk/campaigns/signalling-opportunities/
The bottom-left screen shows a TRUST enquiry for trains at OLDKTRDJN (Old Kent Road Junction) with a list of origins and destinations which all have 9 characters or less, such as LONDONBDG for London Bridge.

================================

Edited 8th August to add some freight news:

Cardiff Docks slab traffic

There is a flow of steel slabs from Port Talbot (Margam) to Cardiff Docks running this week. This traffic is normally sent to Newport Docks, and I don't think there has been any steel sent by rail through Cardiff Docks for several years.

Schedules can be seen here, runs loaded as 6Z35 (arriving at Cardiff Tidal around 7am) and returns empty as 6Z36 at lunchtime, with a trip down to the docks in between, given nominal timings as 8O09 / 8O10 and using the train loco rather than the local class 08s.
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/se...2023-08-08/0000-2359?stp=S&show=all&order=wtt

This traffic is using BTA wagons, which are former BDA bogie bolster wagons that were converted to carry pipes (the smaller diameter pipes that were regularly sent from Hartlepool to Laurencekirk some years back, not the big pipes to Georgemas). Some of these BTA wagons have been modified to make them suitable for slab traffic again. I haven't seen any photos of them, so I am not sure if they look any different to normal BDA wagons.

The exact location for offloading appears to be Fletcher's Wharf near the old Ryan's coal terminal, where there is a concrete pad. Stone traffic has also been loaded here in the past, along with the flow of incinerator ash to Avonmouth. Location is pictured here when stone was being loaded fairly regularly (I seem to remember Crawley as a typical destination): https://www.flickr.com/photos/70710639@N05/28169543754/

I'm not sure of the reason for the switch to Cardiff Docks (it might be a trial or a temporary change of destination) but if anyone in the area can get a photo of the loaded traffic I'd be interested to see it. At the beginning of last year there were some slab trains from Port Talbot to Portbury (with a reported destination of Ijmuiden in the Netherlands), and I think this might be the same traffic. In addition to the slab traffic, Tata export high volumes of coil through Newport Docks, but there are also smaller volumes of coil sometimes loaded to rail there. I suspect that this slab is rolled into coils in Ijmuiden and that some of their coil is on occasions shipped to the UK, perhaps to balance out production capacity and demand in the UK vs Europe. Another South Wales port used for steel traffic is Newport Birdport (on the branch from East Usk, so on the other side of the river to the rest of Newport Docks) but I don't think there have been any rail movements there for a while.

Incidentally, this slab traffic from Port Talbot to Cardiff or Newport Docks is the only remaining slab flow in South Wales. Llanwern can process slabs but this facility is currently mothballed and it receives steel from Port Tabot in the form of coils for processing (in both covered and open wagons) - https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/construction/sustainability/performance-at-our-sites/llanwern

Mountsorrel traffic update

Also worth mentioning is a new flow this summer from Mountsorrel to Hayes which has been running on Fridays as a 6Z30. Hayes receives traffic from a variety of locations, but traffic from Leicestershire has traditionally originated from Stud Farm (a.k.a. Cliffe Hill, on the Knighton Jn - Burton branch through Coalville).

There have been quite a few changes to the traditional traffic flows from Mountsorrel in recent years. In the days of "Redland" branding, regular flows were to Radlett, Elstow, Kennett, Norwich Trowse and Barham in conventional PGA hopper wagons, and to Langley Junction (Stevenage), Chesterton Junction, Banbury, Broxbourne and Chelmsford using the self-discharge train (I think Broxbourne switched to conventional hoppers later). Boston Docks was a late addition to the list of places served by the SDT. There were also regular trains of railway ballast to various places.

When the self-discharge trains were abruptly withdrawn in 2016 the locations previously served by the self-discharge trains were briefly left in limbo, before switching to a new fleet of Tarmac/Ermewa branded grey JNA bogie box wagons, although I don't think services ever resumed from Mountsorrel to Chelmsford. Harlow Mill became another destination served from Mountsorrel, using the new box wagons (I think this effectively replaced Broxbourne, which is nearby and no longer receives trains). The other PGA hoppers were gradually replaced by bogie hoppers, first by ex-RMC wagons displaced from Peak Forest, and then by a new fleet of Tarmac / Ermewa branded grey HOA bogie hoppers. Some trains now use DB's red HRA hoppers (HTAs reduced in length for aggregate traffic) and there is also a set of VTG hoppers brought up from South Wales now in use, that were originally branded "Buxton Lime Industries" and used on flows such as Tunstead to Hindlow.

in the post-Redland period Mountsorrel began serving some new destinations, perhaps reflecting the change of ownership from Redland to Lafarge in 1997 and then to Lafarge Tarmac in 2013, with the Lafarge name being dropped when the company was sold to CRH in 2015. Trains began running ran to Small Heath, Northampton and West Thurrock, and in recent years there have been occasional trains to Luton Crescent Road, Bredbury, Pendleton and Ashburys. The new Washwood Heath asphalt plant also began receiving trains.

Traffic from Mountsorrel to Norwich Trowse and Kennett stopped last year. These terminals are now served by Tunstead, with additional trains coming from the new CMAT aggregate terminal at Tilbury 2.

Trains from Mountsorrel to once regular destinations at Northampton, Langley Jn, Banbury, Small Heath and West Thurrock have ceased running in the past couple of years. Banbury and Small Heath are now busy with HS2 traffic from Hindlow and Tunstead, Langley Junction stopped receiving trains, and West Thurrock is now used purely for cement deliveries from Tunstead. In addition, the Washwood Heath trains have switched origin to Tunstead in recent months. Chesterton Junction still receives trains, but at the moment they seem to be coming from Dowlow rather than Mountsorrel, maybe once a week (running in stages and stabling over the weekend at Toton and / or Peterborough).

Regular traffic continues from Mountsorrel to Radlett and Elstow (both of which are also served from other destinations including Tunstead, Port Talbot, Moreton on Lugg and sometimes Tilbury 2). Barham still receives regular trains, and there are bulk ballast services to Eastleigh, Doncaster and Whitemoor.